The Election Commission of India (EC) on Tuesday, October 15, announced the poll schedule for the states of Maharashtra and Jharkhand. However, after the declaration of poll dates, questions were asked about the Congress party alleging "distortion" in the EVMs in recently concluded Haryana assembly polls.
The Election Commission reacted strongly to allegations of rigged EVMs by Congress. The Congress & its social media-backed accounts had alleged “if Israel can get Hezbollah pagers exploded, can’t EVMs be hacked? CEC Rajiv Kumar replied, “No. EVMs can’t be hacked. It is because pagers are connected, but EVMs are not”.
Regarding the complaints made by the Congress about the EVMs in recently concluded Haryana polls, the CEC said, "We will respond to all 20 complaints on EVMs individually, fact-by-fact."
The CEC also defended the EVMs against the allegations made by Opposition political parties and said, "It is absolutely safe and robust. Look at the last 15-20 elections. It is giving results after results differently. It can't be that it (EVMs) is wrong only the results are not as per your liking."
Allegations Against EVMs Made By Congress
The Congress party on Wednesday (October 9), said that it lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission (EC), alleging discrepancies in the "battery strengths of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)" that were used in the Haryana elections.
The result for Haryana Election was announced on Tuesday (October 8). The BJP won in Haryana and Congress faced an embarrasing defeat.
Poll Schedule For Maharashtra And Jharkhand Announced
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (October 15) announced the schedule for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections. The elections will be conducted in a single phase, with the polling date on November 20. The counting of votes will take place on November 23 in Maharashtra.
Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 13 & 20 and results will be declared on November 23 along with Maharashtra, announced the Election Commission of India in the press conference.
